Out of all the Bachelor/Bachelorette series they have had to date, the only relationship that stuck in the end has been that of Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter who parlayed that success into a televised wedding. The extremely romantic ending to this year’s Bachelor series leaves us optimistic for yet another success story.

Chris opens the show introducing Mary Delgado first. He asks Mary if it was better this time, and she says absolutely. They go back and discuss that night when Mary received the proposal from Brian Velvick. Mary says she was so tense she nearly ripped Chris’s arm off getting out of the limo. We are treated to seeing a portion of the proposal again.

Byron joins Mary onstage, and they are clearly happy to see each other. Chris jokingly asks for a fire extinguisher. They have been forced to remain separate and keep their engagement secret for three months, with only phone calls back and forth to tide them over. Chris mentions Byron had been skeptical about this process, and Byron says he came into it as an optimistic forty-year-old bass fisherman. Chris mentions how Mary wanted to leave twice, and she adds what a mistake that would have been, but she was hiding her true feelings as she was so scared.

A camera is set up in Tampa Bay, Florida watching Mary’s family react to the news. They look happy, yet stoic, and it leaves me wondering if Mary had already told them she had won, or if some type of maternal instinct had led her mother to knowing the probable outcome. Mary’s parents say that it meant so much to them to hear the proposal from Byron in Spanish. Byron says he wanted them to be a part of it. In Spanish, Mary’s mother says she is happy to add another son to the family, and Byron replies, “Hola, Mama!”

The talk switches to Byron’s Mom, Joan, in the audience. She is happy for them as well, and says she was absolutely sure Mary was the one, and says that was due to the connection she saw between them.

Byron has a surprise for Mary. He produces the box from his pocket that held Mary’s engagement ring the night he had proposed to her. I hadn’t even thought about it, but of course Mary couldn’t have been seen walking around sporting this expensive ring until their engagement was common knowledge. Byron gets down on his knee, and presents her the ring again. She shouts, “I win!” He also surprises her with the final rose. She had thought it was lost that night, but he secretly saved it and has been using it as a bookmark in his journal. He reads a passage from his journal, and it is one discussing guardian angels and citing people that have died. He believes they are the angels, and that they have brought him the message that Mary was the one. Byron’s mom is seen crying in the audience, and it’s clear she agrees.

Chris asks Byron and Mary if they have picked a date. They joke that they are going to Vegas tomorrow to elope. They seriously add there is no date, but it will be sometime in the next year. They want to be a real couple first. Asked where they will live, Mary says Byron has a one way ticket to Florida, and they will live in Tampa Bay. He says the switch won’t be too hard on his career, since his tour starts in Florida every year. Mary doesn’t seem all too ecstatic at the thought she will be a “fisher girl.”

Tanya comes out onstage alone with Chris. Byron and Mary are backstage watching. Tanya says it happened so quickly – it was only three minutes before she was back in the limo, going home alone. Chris asks why she felt played. Tanya answers that she felt misled, as they had talked of their futures together, and people only in a casual relationship don’t talk of the future together. She had been one hundred percent sure she would be the one. She adds how tough it has been to keep this a secret and go through this pain alone. From a camera in her hometown, Tanya’s mom, Peggy, says they love her, and that she is in a win-win situation, which is hard to believe after hearing Mary shout, “I win!”

Byron comes out to talk to Tanya, something she had asked for, to get some much-needed explanations. Mary is backstage and looks piiiiised. Both Tanya and Byron agree it is the most awkward situation they have ever been in. Tanya tells Byron what she is upset about. She had asked him by the limo how long he knew that Mary was the one, and Byron had told her eight to ten days. She replays their days together back, and realizes that must have been during his visit to her hometown. This is what she feels is the most hurtful, that he had already shut her out when she was opening herself and her life up to him.

Byron now doesn’t remember saying eight-to-ten days. He says he still didn’t know for sure himself back that far, and doesn’t feel he ever misled her. They chalk it up to a misunderstanding. She says now that he has explained she is okay with it. Mandy is not. Mandy is a friend of Tanya’s that Byron met on his visit to her hometown and that is now in the audience. She wants to know why he said he was probably falling in love with her. He says at the time it was all flowing so naturally, and that’s what he felt. By the end, though, he realized he loved all the things about her, but was not in love with her.

Becky, another friend of Tanya’s from Houston, is on camera along with Tanya’s family. Becky says she agrees with Mandy and wants to know how Byron could do a toast with his parents, Tanya and Peggy, “To Christmas in Texas” if he was already in love with Mary. Byron says he was toasting a potential future, a hope, as that’s all you have to go on. Mary, backstage, continues to look piiiiised.

Mary comes onstage to join Byron and Tanya. Clearly, all are very uncomfortable. Chris asks Mary how difficult it was to watch that, and she says she understands, having been in that position herself with Bob. She says her and Tanya had been very close while living in the mansion, and she tells Tanya she is an exceptionally beautiful woman inside and out, and she knows Tanya will find her Prince Charming one day. Tanya wishes them both luck.

Some questions are taken from the audience, and Bill stands up and asks Mary what her wedding colors will be. He immediately throws in an afterthought that his wife made him ask that. Mary laughs and says she has no idea.

Chris says “Now on to my favorite part of the show. I sing show tunes.” He laughs, as he explains it is actually time for them to show the outakes from this season. Byron is shown making lots of funny faces to the camera, asking for another drink, putting chap stick on, and saying he has to pee. The most funny thing he says is, “There’s something about Mary.” The next comment could only have come from Krysta, as they show Krysta discussing being with a fisherman, and she stands up and says, “Where’s my rod?”

Chris presents Byron and Mary with an engagement gift. Sabrina, Byrons’ dog, is seen sitting in a new 2005 Pontiac G6. I think Sabrina should have been part of the proposal, but that’s just me.

Seeing Byron and Mary’s love for each other leaves us hopeful for a forever bond between the two of them. However, it’s hard to look past two of Mary’s comments. The first is while waiting to see Byron that last night, and hopeful for a proposal, she doesn’t say she wants to spend the rest of her life with him, she says she is looking for her fairy tale wedding. After being proposed to on the show the second time, she says, “I win!” She had told Byron their last night together before he proposed that she wasn’t focused on winning, and it was not a game to her. And every single bachelor/bachelorette couple to come before them has said they want to take some time to be a couple first, before they get married. Somehow, it usually doesn’t end up happening. I hope in this case it does. I hope she will keep her fairy tale ending.